Archives for August 2016

Parents want their kids to thrive at school. As a result, they become invested in their child’s education, and most quickly offer to help when their school needs it. There are several reasons that propel a parent, teacher, or even an entire community to engage in school fundraising. For many schools, the problem manifests in a lack of government funding that forces school districts to redistribute their budget. And this often results in major changes to the school itself. Don’t let budget cuts hinder your child’s education. Compassionate crowdfunding is the key to replenishing your school’s resources.

Budget cuts to primary and secondary schools

Unfortunately, schools across America have been experiencing significant budget cuts over the past several years, hitting public schools the hardest. As a parent, you may have noticed that the financial needs of your child’s school are not being met by their allotted budget. Cash-strapped teachers are forced to either cut valuable educational programs or make up the difference with their own finances.

Even though future generations depend on the quality of our school system, government funding for education is continuously slashed. As the funds deplete, the school’s ability to inspire young students to learn diminishes, too. You may watch your child’s class size grow every year as your school system steadily lets go of quality teachers and reduces its resources to manage their dwindling budgets.

Larger class sizes mean that each student receives less attention and the curriculum becomes limited, disadvantaging certain students. Budget cuts can mean reducing or terminating critical programs and services. This can include school buses, new classroom tools, like textbooks and dry erase boards, and extracurricular activities, such as art, foreign language classes, physical education, and after-school programs. Students can miss out on meaningful life experiences, like taking field trips to historical sites or performing in their first play. As a result, more parents are called upon to donate money, give their time, or fundraise on the school’s behalf. For families that already struggle financially, having your children’s school ask you for more money can add unanticipated stress.

Spotlight school budget cuts statistics

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that budget cuts directly affect the teacher-to-student ratio per classroom. Since 2008, the number of teachers decreased by 297,000, while the number of students increased by 804,000.

A study released by First Focus revealed that federal funding for primary and secondary education in the United States has decreased by 20 percent over the past five years, which is about five times more of a reduction that overall federal spending cuts.

An article from the Huffington Post shows that in order to balance their diminished budgets, schools are moving to four-day school weeks, canceling field trips, and even requiring students to pay-to-play sports.

Reasons for school fundraising

1. Updating and replenishing school resources

As your child grows up, their school ages, too. As time goes by, school facilities, like playgrounds and libraries, can become outdated or suffer damage and need repairs. Fundraising serves as an opportunity for a school community to come together to improve school buildings and grounds. The school may need improvements in the classroom or administrative offices. Classroom supplies are always in high demand. So when the budget is low, even basic school supplies become scarce. Helping to raise the funds necessary to keep a classroom full of supplies throughout the academic year will help ensure that your own child is getting needed resources to thrive in school.

2. Funding extracurricular activities and afterschool programs

Parents want their children to receive a comprehensive education with programs that take learning beyond the walls of a classroom. A well-rounded curriculum nurtures students’ needs and helps identify areas where they may need extra help. Supervised and structured after-school activities can have more perks than most parents think.

Extracurricular activities give students a sense of purpose and belonging to their school community. They teach students teamwork, commitment, and problem-solving skills while facilitating supportive relationships between students and teachers. And there is an academic benefit. A research report released by College Board asserts that the participation in extracurricular activities in high school directly correlates to higher SAT scores. It’s also important to note that after-school programs help curb any working parents’ anxiety about who will watch their child after school. Through fundraising, you help supplement the budget for curriculum-enrichment programs and you help support the teachers by providing the resources that they may be lacking.

Unpredictable school fundraising benefits

The obvious goal of any fundraiser is to raise the monetary means to fund a project or cause. However, you may stumble upon some unforeseen benefits. On top of that warm, fuzzy feeling we get after we help someone, donors can feel a part of something that will enhance their own community. Fundraising initiatives can serve as a bonding experience for parents and their children, too.

When kids get involved in school fundraising, they feel pride for their school. Students get empowered to contribute to something that will directly benefit their education. And when kids start fundraising to help their school at a young age, they are being taught the importance of being civic- minded. The experience they have is that even though they are young, they can still make a positive difference in their community. And as they become adults and working members of the community, they will take this lesson with them and continue to think about how they can help people around them. In addition, fundraising helps foster a feeling of self-worth for students. As they begin to watch the donations come from people they haven’t met, they learn that people care for one another and that even people outside their community uphold the importance of their education.

School funding options

1. Apply for school grants

Private companies, local community organizations, and the federal government have all been providing grants for after-school programs, extracurricular activities, or curriculum development for several years. Grants specify exactly what funds can be used for and how much money is available. There are specific qualifications a school must meet to apply for a grant. Then comes the application process, which can be lengthy. With a large number of schools applying for the same grants, the likelihood of your school being chosen may be slim.

2. School fundraising companies

Another funding option is to purchase kits from school fundraising companies. These fundraising kits usually involve some sort of product-based sales with small prizes as incentives for students. However, school fundraising companies pocket a large percentage of your earnings. And this school fundraising model separates the students from what they are fundraising for. Students may be excited about winning a prize for selling wrapping paper, but are they aware of what they are fundraising for? This disconnection to the purpose may accurately teach them about being a salesman. However, it does not instill lessons of compassion and hard work that other types of school fundraisers provide.

3. Crowdfunding: a new way to fundraise

As a parent or teacher, you may be tired of the traditional types of school fundraisers, like magazine sales that require you to go door to door which often don’t produce the needed funds. A more lucrative and efficient alternative is crowdfunding. By taking fundraising online, crowdfunding enables people to raise funds from the crowd, utilizing their online social networks to propel their efforts and spread awareness to new potential donors.

For some, there may be a hesitation to ask for help online from your social networks. The idea of asking friends and strangers for money may be uncomfortable. The key is to explain your cause honestly and share it and say why it’s so important. Once the support and donations start to come in, you may no longer feel vulnerable and suddenly start to feel empowered. When people recognize that there is a genuine need and that you are actively taking steps to solve a community-wide problem, they will be more willing to help and share in your fundraiser’s success.

Compassionate crowdfunding with YouCaring

A concern with many crowdfunding sites is that they have a platform fee that detracts from the donations you receive from supporters. A side-by-side comparison of the most popular crowdfunding platforms quickly reveals which fundraising site has the lowest fees – YouCaring. The platform is dedicated to Compassionate Crowdfunding ™, meaning that it caters to humanitarian and personal causes. YouCaring has no platform fee because it knows that every dollar counts. Part of the mission is to empower people to help others and help themselves during hardships. YouCaring believes that compassion is the key to both giving and receiving support.

Crowdfunding tips

A surefire way to reach your fundraising goals is to start with a solid foundation. A well-thought-out fundraising strategy is key to setting yourself up for success. Planning a successful school fundraiser requires you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. It is important to think about your ultimate goal and then break down the necessary steps to get there. This fundraising strategy template can help you organize your ideas and goals while giving you some proven crowdfunding tips along the way. Note that your online social network can boost your campaign’s awareness, which is why you should use social media to promote your fundraiser. Sharing on sites like Facebook and Twitter is a great way to get the word out.

Consider organizing a crowdfunding campaign in tandem with exciting offline fundraising events. Offline fundraising events are an ideal way to spread buzz about your campaign throughout your community while bringing in donations. Any funds raised from these events can be added to your total donation pool on your crowdfunding campaign. There are endless exciting school fundraising event ideas.

Elementary school fundraising

Elementary school is an exciting time for young kids. Students begin to develop new friendships and dip their toes into different activities. Elementary school fundraising can take many forms. Young students may desire to raise funds for their favorite charity. Perhaps your child has joined the student council and understands how fundraising supports school events or community projects. These student council fundraising ideas will get your kid excited about creating a crowdfunding campaign. Tap into your school’s creative drive and try incorporating art into your fundraiser.

Middle school fundraising

The education system exposes students to new skills and hobbies as they grow up. By middle school, students start experiencing more freedom and exercising their curiosity. They may create or join different student organizations, like a photography club. And when they need new supplies, there are several fundraising ideas for school clubs that will help them nurture their extracurricular interests. Explore some middle school fundraising ideas before you start your own campaign.

High school fundraising

High school students have developed interests in different school programs, ranging from debate to band to yearbook. When school budget cuts take their favorite programs away, students can band together to keep these programs afloat. There are several fundraising ideas for high school that can work for your school’s needs and interests. For example, you can tailor your high school sports fundraising initiatives to have an athletic theme.

Successful school fundraisers on YouCaring

As a result of the Hattiesburg Public School district’s financial crisis, funding for travel to tournaments was suspended. This prompted students and their dedicated coaches to create a crowdfunding campaign to fund their trip to compete in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Barkley Forum for High Schools. The Hattiesburg Public School District’s Forensic Program has provided economically disadvantaged students the ability to discover what success looks like, both inside and outside of the classroom. They are the only school in the nation to have produced two National Forensics Students of the Year and have received three School of Excellence awards from the National Speech and Debate Association. Even more impressive: their program prides itself on a 100 percent graduation rate and all students from the program go to college after graduation. With the help of several supporters, the team was able to compete.

As Elm Grove Elementary’s enrollment increased to more than 800 students, the school’s PTA rallied together to find a way to update their old library into a place that fosters critical thinking while accommodating different styles of learning. They made a plan to get rid of old equipment, like VHS tapes, and replace it with new technology, such as robot programming software, a 3D printer, computers, materials about botany, and a space to learn skills like carpentry, architecture, and more. With a well-organized crowdfunding campaign, they raised more than enough funds to create the library that they believe will inspire the next generation of innovators.

Launch a school fundraiser

The beauty of crowdfunding is that it can serve multiple purposes. One, it raises funds for a meaningful cause. Second, it rallies your neighborhood around a collective cause and reminds them they can directly help their own community. School fundraising can have a lasting impact on a student’s life. Check out our fundraising ideas for schools before kicking off your own free fundraiser.

Note: You must be 18 or older to start an account on YouCaring. Students can work with their parents to create a crowdfunding campaign.

Matt tells me how incredible it is that more than 3,000 people have shared his YouCaring fundraiser. That was two weeks ago. Today, his campaign has been shared more than 4,000 times and he has raised nearly $75,000. “I don’t think somebody can intimately know 3,000 people” he says, reflecting on how many people he’s never met who’ve shared and contributed to his campaign.

Matt’s community poster board of signatures and wishes of healing at one of his restaurants in Los Angeles, California.

Matt is raising money because in June, his entire life changed. He was in the ER with unbearable pain and consistent shortness of breath. An avid athlete in tune with his body, Matt knew something was wrong. After visiting several doctors for nerve pain in his neck and shoulders and hearing them dismiss his complaints, Matt’s ER doctor suggested he get a chest X-ray, which showed a 15cm growth in Matt’s chest. The tumor has been filling Matt’s chest cavity and compressing his spine, esophagus, and lungs, which explains his shortness of breath and nerve pain.

Matt has Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, “T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma,” which means that the cancer starts in his bone marrow. Since his diagnosis, both of his sisters have been tested to see whether they are a match, and his sister Jenny, who started his YouCaring fundraiser, turns out to be a perfect match. She will donate her bone marrow to Matt this fall as he continues his long and strenuous treatment.

Matt at his home in Los Angeles, California.

As I sit with Matt while he reflects on his life experience throughout the last few months, I’m moved because he is positive, grateful, and present to the fact that he is well taken care of. Plus, he cannot wait to get back to the ski slopes, and shares that even at 38, his dream of being a professional skier is real. Having a sister close by has been a lifesaver, and having a community of thousands of people, who have shown up for him through YouCaring, has allowed Matt to stay in L.A. and continue to live his life with as much normalcy as possible.

To support Matt and learn more about his story, see his campaign page here.

You’re looking to raise money for a loved one in need and you created a fundraiser, but you’ve made it only halfway. Sharing your fundraiser across social media channels to your community is vital for its success and determines whether you will raise enough money to support your beneficiary. Promoting your fundraiser can seem overwhelming at first, but know there are websites and apps that you can leverage to serve as social media fundraising tools to boost your crowdfunding success. The following seven social media fundraising tools will allow you to work smarter – not harder – as you promote your fundraiser on social media.

1. Canva

If you’re looking to take your fundraiser’s photos to the next level, Canva is a great design resource. The website is free and offers templates, graphics, fonts, and more that make your design tasks simple. Canva is great for adding some pizazz to your beneficiary’s photos to grab the attention of potential donors on social media.

2. Bitly

Creating a custom or shortened link to add to your posts will help you gauge how well your fundraising efforts are going over social media. Bitly is another free tool that you can leverage to monitor how people react to and engage with your content. If you notice that users are clicking on a Bitly link more when you share fundraiser updates, adjust your strategy to create more content around your beneficiary’s news.

3. Post scheduling

Scheduling social media posts is a great way to post consistently and frequently, and it saves you time when you need it. Postcron and TweetDeck are useful tools to schedule future posts on your social media accounts.

4. PicCollage

PicCollage is an app available for iOS and Android that allows you to create collages with photos from your smartphone. Choose multiple pictures, a template, seasonal stickers, backgrounds, and more to keep your posts festive and fun.

5. Flipagram

Our data shows that fundraisers with a video raise 100 percent more donations that those without one. If you don’t have the time or resources to create a video with a digital camera, you can always use your smartphone video app or better still, get the Flipagram app on your iPhone or Android. With the Flipagram app, you can create a photo or video story right on your smartphone to upload to social media and your fundraiser page. The app lets you add free music to your story to bring it to life!

6. Hashtagify.me

One of the easiest ways to grow a social media channel and promote posts is to utilize hashtags. While finding relevant hashtags may seem challenging at times, Hashtagify.me is a website for finding hashtags related to what you’re posting on social media. If you type in a word related to your fundraiser, the site will generate the top 10 other hashtags related to that word to use in the caption of your posts. You can also try creating your own unique hashtag for your fundraiser by following our easy steps here.

7. Twitter Trends

Speaking of hashtags, leveraging Twitter’s trending topics will help you discover topics and hashtags that are popular on the platform. Once you find a relevant topic, jump into those conversations by using that hashtag to promote your fundraiser.

Promoting your fundraiser on social media only seems challenging. Utilize any or all of thesesocial media fundraising tools, and you will ultimately boost donations and your crowdfunding success. For tips on how to get started to promote your fundraiser on social media, download our freeSocial Media Crowdfunding Checklist.

Medical crowdfunding brings financial relief to people who struggle with costly medical expenses and cope with an illness or a serious disease in the family. Every year, millions of people with or without health insurance seek immediate ways for how to get rid of medical debt and pay their medical expenses and out-of-pocket bills, while trying to afford basic living needs.

With mounting medical expenses suddenly impacting a family budget, you can start to feel overwhelmed with caring for your sick loved one and for other family members, while working a job. You can lose income from taking time from work to care for someone, making matters worse. The problem is clear: you need to get rid of medical debt.

The billing cycles for medical bills and out-of-pocket costs can become burdensome and even threatening with financial consequences, concerning rent or mortgage bills and foreclosure, tuition, insurance premiums, prescriptions, further medical treatment, dental visits, and planned major purchases, like a car or a vacation. Making ends meet can suddenly require that you delay or sacrifice some key area of your family life in order to afford essential living needs.

The Insured and Uninsured are Vulnerable

Some facts spell out how medical expenses cause financial problems for millions of people every year:

One in every five American adults between 18-64 years old with health insurance say they had problems paying medical expenses in 2015, according to one study. And while insurance can protect people from costly medical bills, those with employer coverage or other insurance suffer similar consequences to the uninsured, once the financial strain begins. Among those facing problems with medical bills, almost identical shares of the insured (44 percent) and uninsured (45 percent) say the bills had a major impact on their families. So it’s clear that both the insured and the uninsured can face financial catastrophes due to medical-related expenses.

The Uninsured – For families with low incomes or lack health or dental insurance, medical bills may have lower amounts, yet a bill of $500 or less presents a major problem for someone who is living paycheck to paycheck.

Government Funded Health insurance Programs – Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) have eligibility requirements and restrictions. Additional programs for the uninsured or low income vary by state. Medicare is a social insurance program funded by a payroll tax that provides health care coverage for people who are 65 and older.

Affordable Care Act – Since The Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, an estimated 20 million more people now have health insurance today because of it, reducing the number of uninsured people. Still, there are 33 million Americans, or 10.4 percent of the population, who were uninsured in 2014. This number includes young adults, working adults, immigrants, low-income people in certain states where Medicaid hasn’t expanded or who were ineligible for it, and children.

Health Insurance Billing and Debt Collection

When you or a loved one becomes ill suddenly or needs immediate health care for any reason, bills quickly follow. The amounts and types of bills that you are responsible for – even after insurance coverage – can be startling. While health insurance may cover much of the medical care, it’s difficult to know exactly what will be your responsibility, how much it will cost, and why. Your portion of payments may be unaffordable or greatly impact your budget.

Short-term and Long-term Healthcare Needs and Expenses

Short-term episodes of illnesses can require surgeries, medications, and tests. Dental treatment, for example, could be a one-time visit with one expensive bill. An emergency room visit is also a one-time event, yet with multiple providers; alternatively, treating a disease can mean extensive treatment, involving different doctors and facilities over a longer time, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, and therefore you have a longer billing period with more involved and lengthy treatment.

How the Medical Billing Process Works

The medical billing process works in a cycle, involving your health care provider submitting bills to your insurance company if you have health insurance. It can take days or months and begins with your office visit when your patient record includes a diagnosis and procedure codes. Once a bill goes to the insurance company, it processes the claims and decides whether to approve, deny, or reject the claims, giving reasons. Approved claims are reimbursed, typically for a certain percentage of the billed services. Other reductions to your bill occur with your co-pay, a deductible, or coinsurance. The doctors and medical specialists collect out-of-pocket expenses directly from you, the patient. Sometimes a health care provider will use a third party, called a medical billing service, for its invoicing, verification, and collections.

How Debt Collection Agencies Can Hurt Your Credit Score

A flurry of mail comes, bringing medical insurance statements and balances that can leave you questioning exactly what you owe and whether your insurance coverage completed assessing your claims. Eventually, you get a bill with a timeline to pay it, and if it goes unpaid, your healthcare provider will turn over your account to a collection agency. At this point, you run the risk of having the collection agency report your unpaid balance to various credit agencies that manage your credit score, and will lower it based on these medical debts. More than other unpaid debts, medical ones can seriously lower your score.

One thing you can do to protect your credit score is to try to solve your billing issues and questions with your health providers before your account is sent to collections on the payment deadline. Talk with your health providers and pay them directly – even partially – and talk about your remaining balance with them. Be aware that hospitals are quick to send unpaid and overdue accounts to collections. They prefer to receive your payment directly because the amount will be more than what a collection agency will pay them.

Avoid Debt Collection Harassment

Collection agencies want you to pay your medical debt to them as soon as possible. Medical debt is among their major debt categories of payments to recover. No other industry receives more complaints about harassment than debt collection agencies, according to the Federal Trade Commission. To protect yourself with consumer rights against harassment, consult the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Inherited Medical Debt?

Sometimes money troubles come unexpectedly and at difficult times. It’s challenging when a loved one dies, like a parent or grandparent, and then to have to confront the worrisome financial position of that person. A death typically follows hospitalization or time spent in the emergency room or intensive care unit, with an aftermath of medical bills to pay. The cost of this level of care can be astronomical for many families.

What happens to medical debts when someone dies in your family? Generally speaking, the estate of the deceased is used to pay outstanding medical debts if there is enough money to cover them. If there is not enough money to cover them, then the medical debts usually don’t become the responsibility of other family members. Still It’s best to check the different state laws on medical debt for these payments after a death. Medicaid has its own set of rules on debts of the deceased, as well.

In addition, if you have co-signed a particular transaction that states you are personally responsible for these debts, or if you have a legal duty to be responsible for this person, for a dependent, for example, then you will be expected to deal with these payments.

Be aware that if you are a beneficiary in a will, the medical debts may have to be paid from the estate by liquidating some assets in it before anything is distributed to the heirs. So what you might have intended to inherit could get wiped out in this process of paying the outstanding medical debts.

Options to Pay Your Medical Bills

What are your options when you face a string of medical bills with due dates? A single medical problem can lead you down a spiral of complex financial restrictions with few solutions.

1. Compassionate Crowdfunding

Creating an online fundraiser to share your struggle to pay your medical expenses is an effective way to get funds immediately. It’s free, and it can be used in combination with other fundraiser events and activities. Online fundraising draws upon your social networks from different areas of your life, from school, college, work, sports, clubs, neighborhoods, or faith communities. Sharing your financial situation honestly so others can see what you are going through connects them to you. Compassionate crowdfunding means that you can reach out to others and discover that we all rely on each other for support at different times of our lives.

2. Bank Loan

The traditional go-to solution has been applying for a bank loan or a line of credit. Borrowing a sum of money to pay the medical bills transfers your debt to a creditor, to which you owe the sum with interest. Applying and qualifying for a loan can take time, maybe more time than you have when your living expenses become increasingly difficult to afford. While borrowing money seems like a solution, it will mean paying an interest rate on top of the total loan amount with your monthly schedule of other bills. This loan will tap into your already depleted income or savings, along with having to pay other out-of-pocket expenses. Losing time from work to care for someone can mean suffering a reduction in your income right now. A low credit score may prevent you from qualifying for a loan. Because collections are quick to report your medical debts to creditors, your loan application may be seen as risky if you are already having trouble keeping up with your bills. To qualify, you may require someone to co-sign with better credit than yours, like a family member or friend to get the loan. The co-signer would be legally responsible for repaying the loan, with you.

3. Borrow from a Friend

If you don’t qualify for a loan and cannot find a willing co-signer, you might try to borrow money personally from a friend or family member. Here again, you would arrange a mutually agreeable schedule for paying back the loan, with or without interest.

4. Negotiate Your Bills

Professional medical bill negotiators work on clients’ behalf to resolve billing issues or negotiate lower medical bills, often in exchange for a portion of your savings. This option may appeal to you if you don’t have the emotional or mental bandwidth to take on this project, but it’s not clear how much you would save. You could try to negotiate your own bill and ask for an itemized statement, question the costs, and request discounts, and log all your communications down to document the decisions.

How to Pay Medical Debt with Crowdfunding

Stop spending your savings and liquidating assets, and be confident about staying where you live. It’s important not to delay regular health appointments for your own wellbeing so you can care for others during a difficult time. Borrowing money and living paycheck to paycheck is not a good plan when even your basic living needs aren’t being met. Working one or more jobs and caring for a family and a sick loved one creates an unbearably stressful and ultimately unhappy life for all.

Take control of your life before your financial circumstances get out of hand. Instead of getting swept up in a storm of ongoing and overwhelming medical expenses that could lead to bankruptcy, consider free crowdfunding. It will provide you with daily payouts, emotional support, and kind words from your online communities, and perhaps most importantly, a sense of empowerment that comes only from asking for help. We all need help once in awhile. Crowdfunding fosters community and drives global grassroots philanthropy, where no one needs to suffer hardship alone.

Dan Saper, President of YouCaring, offers this promise: “We promise to show the world that no one has to face hardship alone. To foster compassion. To create a global giving community on a scale unseen in human history. To prove that everyone can be a philanthropist and make a difference – all it takes is a dollar and a kind word.”

YouCaring medical fundraisers total more than half of the 250,000 fundraisers on its website. When you create an online fundraiser, you are telling your story with words, pictures, and video, revealing the real difficulties you face, from health issues to the day-to-day financial burden and emotional pressures that you need help with. When you ask for help, you let people know who care about you. What you will get is compassion and financial support, and you will marvel at this outpouring from your friends, family, communities, and even total strangers.

“The kindness of complete strangers just blows you away.”

A fundraiser who reached his financial goal on YouCaring.

Raising funds through crowdfunding is something that works, and anyone can do it. To learn some fundraising tips we gleaned from talking with 30 successful medical fundraiser families on YouCaring. You need to ask for it, and share your journey with others with updates, until you meet your goal so that they can stand by you and know you are all right. By sharing your struggle with others, you will see how others do care, and they will want to help you work through this difficult time.

“YouCaring has been a great tool and kind of a lifeline for a lot of people.The more candid people are on their fundraisers the more successful they are. Honestly, because If you sugarcoat things, people won’t be able to understand it. You want people to see what life is like through your eyes, so they can make an educated decision on if and how much they want to donate. Just be as human as possible, and in that way you’re much more relatable.”

When I met Finley and her parents, Christina and Josh, in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, her name made perfect sense. This little girl is not a typical adorable three year old. She is strong. I can feel it. And it makes sense, considering she has been through what most of us cannot fathom.

Finley, with her Mom Christina and Dad, Josh

Finley came into this world at 31 weeks gestation, and prematurity caused Bilateral Grade-3 Brain Bleeding. Her parents were informed that their daughter would be delayed and might never walk. Early intervention would be key, and so Finley started therapy and Infant Stimulation when she was just three months old.

While spending some time with Christina and Josh in their home and seeing the way they interact with Finley, who they call “Fifi,” I could not help but feel grateful to witness such love. “I would do anything for my daughter,” says Christina, when answering whether she had hesitations about crowdfunding. Josh tells me he was a bit hesitant at the beginning, but that as soon as they began their crowdfunding journey, he realized how incredible it is to see so many people showing up to support them, especially with the Dare to Dance Challenge that the family created.

Finley, with her Mom Christina and Dad, Josh

Finley’s official diagnosis is Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy with overall Left-Side Weakness. She is one of the only kids in her dance class who cannot stand on her own two legs, and according to her fundraising page, “If I could give her my legs, I would,” says Christina.

Christina might not be able to give Fifi her own legs, but the campaign that she started for Fifi has already raised enough money for the life-altering surgery, which is scheduled for the fall. All additional money raised will go toward a foundation the Smallwood family is starting to help other children like Fifi, who dream of dancing on their own two feet. To learn more about Fifi and support her, check out her campaign.